Education for All: A Gender andDisability Perspective
Harilyn Rousso, CSW, Disabilities Unlimited
Table of Contents
Introduction...... 1
Double Discrimination in Education and Beyond...... 1
Invisibility of Girls Who Are Disabled...... 2
Informal Sources of Information...... 2
Programs and Policies...... 2
A Heterogeneous Group...... 3
Barriers to Education...... 3
Cultural Bias and Rigid Gender Roles...... 4
A Pervasive Problem Across Countries and Cultures...... 4
Middle and Upper Class Girls with Disabilities...... 5
Promising Strategies and Programs...... 5
Issues of Violence and Safety...... 5
Combined Sexual and Disability Harassment and Violence in School...... 6
Safety Concerns and Overprotectiveness...... 6
Consequences of Abuse...... 7
Promising Strategies and Programs...... 7
Distance to School...... 8
Inaccessible Transportation Systems and Barriers to Walking...... 8
Boys Who are Disabled May Have the Advantage...... 8
Assistive Devices to Get Out the Door...... 9
Transportation for Girls with Disabilities May Cost More...... 9
Promising Strategies and Programs...... 9
Physical Environment...... 9
Toileting and Menstruation...... 9
Promising Strategies and Programs...... 10
Access to Special Education Services and Supports...... 10
The Role of Behavior and Bias in Access to Services...... 10
The Situation in Developing Countries...... 11
Nature of the Educational Setting...... 11
Promising Strategies and Programs...... 11
Gender and Disability Bias in Curricula...... 11
Invisibility of Women with Disabilities...... 12
Promising Strategies and Programs...... 12
Vocational Courses, Counseling, and Expectations...... 12
Bias in Math and Science Education...... 13
Promising Strategies and Programs...... 13
Recommendations...... 13
More Research on School Enrollment, Outcomes, and Barriers...... 13
Including Disability in Educational Equity Policies and Programs...... 14
Including Gender in Educational Equity Policies and Programs...... 14
Developing a Comprehensive Approach to Violence Prevention...... 15
Targeted Outreach and Scholarships...... 15
Teacher Training and Recruitment...... 15
More Programs for Girls with Disabilities...... 16
Conclusion...... 16
References...... 18
1
Education for All: A Gender and Disability Perspective
Harilyn Rousso, CSW, Disabilities Unlimited
Introduction
In light of the international commitment to Education for All (EFA), how are girls with disabilities faring? In truth, we don’t know, although from what we can extrapolate from the meager research that exists on the subject, they are not faring well. Widespread cultural biases based on gender and disability greatly limit their educational opportunities. Why don’t we know more? Those committed to gender equity, by failing to consider disability, and those committed to disability equity, by failing to consider gender, have unwittingly rendered girls with disabilities invisible.
Girls with disabilities are a large, diverse group, although it is difficult to determine exactly who and how many are included.This is so in part because there are many definitions of disability, not only across countries but also within countries. However, what these varied definitions demonstrate is that disability is now viewed as a social construct rooted in cultural, political, legal, and economic factors as much as in biology. While the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently leading an effort to achieve a new international definition that considers many factors, no consensus has yet been reached. Here, the definition includes girls with physical, sensory, emotional, intellectual, learning, health, or other disabilities that may be visible or invisible, stable or progressive, occurring at birth or during childhood.
Given the multiplicity of definitions, there are no clear statistics on the number or percentage of girls with disabilities, or people with disabilities, for that matter. WHO estimates that between 7 percent and 10 percent of the world’s population has some type of disability and that 80 percent of that number lives in developing countries (WHO, 1999). UNESCO and others speculate that the number of children with disabilities under the age of 18 around the world ranges from 120 to 150 million. Even assuming that girls make up somewhat less than half of all children with disabilities, as some research suggests (Groce, 1999), the number of girls with disabilities worldwide is substantial.
Double Discrimination in Education and Beyond
Available data, most focused on literacy, indicate that women and girls with disabilities fare less well in the educational arena than either males who are disabled or their nondisabled female counterparts. For example, UNESCO, the World Blind Union, and other international organizations estimate the literacy rate for women who are disabled as 1 percent, compared to an estimate of about 3 percent for people with disabilities as a whole (Groce, 1997). Statistics from individual countries and regions, while often reflecting a higher percentage, confirm that gender inequities exist (Nagata, 2003).
In terms of school enrollment, UNESCO suggests that only 2 percent of children with disabilities are in school, with girls who are disabled particularly underserved (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/usa/rapport_2_h.html). These educational findings reflect only a fraction of a larger picture of double discrimination based on gender and disability that pervades the lives of girls and women with disabilities in all areas of human experience, including employment, income, health care, marriage, and parenting. Underlying double discrimination are negative attitudes toward women compounded by negative attitudes toward disability that cut across cultures and levels of development. Women and girls with disabilities are commonly stereotyped as sick, helpless, childlike, dependent, incompetent, and asexual, greatly limiting their options and opportunities.
Invisibility of Girls Who Are Disabled
The most formidable barrier to educational equity for girls with disabilities may be their invisibility. They are not on the radar screen of either those committed to educational equity for girls, because as a rule, disability is not included in their work, or those committed to educational equity for children with disabilities, because with similar oversight, gender is not considered. The literature on girls with disabilities and their education, therefore, is sparse. This holds true for countries at all levels of development, including the United States (Rousso, 2001b). Research in this area is limited and consists largely of small qualitative studies. Although invaluable in identifying barriers, such research rarely includes comparisons with both boys who are disabled and nondisabled girls, making it difficult to identify the joint impact of gender and disability bias.
Informal Sources of Information
Given the lack of research, much of the information in this report is anecdotal, and includes, most significantly, responses to the author’s request for information on barriers to education for girls who are disabled, sent out to a broad range of women’s disability and educational organizations in Africa, the Asian Pacific region, Australia, Eastern and Western Europe, Canada, and Latin America.[1] Out of roughly two dozen responses, a few made reference to recent reports on the status of women and girls with disabilities in their country, and some generated reports on girls with disabilities and their education in response to requests for information. Most simply shared their perceptions on the issue or acknowledged that they had no information on the subject.
Programs and Policies
Available information demonstrates the dearth of programs and policies specifically addressing the educational needs of girls with disabilities, and the failure of gender equity and disability equity programs to serve their needs.
In the United States, there are at best a handful of programs designed for girls with disabilities (Froschl, et al., 2001). Although policies and programs aimed at girls in the general population do exist, girls who are disabled are seldom included. Similarly, while strong disability-rights legislation over the years produced a range of efforts to promote educational equity for children who are disabled, few are gender-specific and few include gender-specific components to address the unique barriers facing girls with disabilities.
Beyond the United States, little program development is underway for girls with disabilities. For example, the South African Development Community (SADC) notes that: “Despite the fact that the disabled girl-child deserves special attention, no country in the SADC has given the matter specific attention. Very little has been done to address the education needs of the disabled girl-child” (SADC, 1999). In response to queries concerning policies and programs for girls who are disabled, what many mentioned most frequently was residential special education centers for girls. Although these centers are clearly gender-segregated schools, there is no evidence to suggest that their programs are gender-sensitive, or, designed with girls’ unique needs in mind.
A Heterogeneous Group
It is important to acknowledge the heterogeneity of girls who are disabled. Their access to education is affected not only by their gender and disability but also by their type of disability, the socioeconomic status of their family, their race and ethnicity, and whether they live in an urban or rural area, as well as a host of other factors. Among these factors, the circular relationship between poverty and disability stands out.
Poverty causes disability, particularly in women and girls.In the face of limited resources, they are more likely than their male counterparts to be deprived of basic necessities such as food and medicine (Groce, 1997). Disability, in turn, contributes to poverty because of the additional expenses that it can entail. Therefore, girls who are disabled are more likely than their nondisabled peers to grow up in poor families, a reality that in itself places them at an educational disadvantage. From what is known, girls with disabilities in rural areas are even less likely to have access to education than those living in cities. Some research indicates that girls with mobility disabilities have more access to education, particularly if it is community-based, than do girls who are blind, deaf, or have other disabilities, since mobility-impaired students, if they can get in the building, are less likely to need modified teaching techniques and devices. How gender interacts with these various other factors is not always obvious.
Barriers to Education
Girls with disabilitiesconfront multiple barriers to obtaining an equitable education or, indeed, any education at all. Attitudinal barriers, such as gender bias compounded by disability bias, seem to be the most formidable.However, other barriers are almost as significant.
CulturalBias and Rigid Gender Roles
The most frequently mentioned barrier to education for girls with disabilities is cultural bias against women, leading to preferential treatment and allocation of resources and opportunities to male children at the expense of their sisters. Education, respondents noted, is deemed less important for girls, who are expected to become wives and mothers.Boys, destined to become breadwinners, are given priority in schooling.
While some view this kind of gender bias as the major barrier to educating girls who are disabled(Fahd, et al., 1997), many believe disability bias limits still further the opportunities of girls who are disabled. Families often assume that a daughter who is disabled will not marry, which may add to her devaluation, since in some cultures, the prospect of a good marriage is the primary value given to girls. In contrast, it is assumed that boys, even those with disabilities, will marry and become breadwinners. In many cultures disability also is a source of stigma, so that having a daughter who is disabled may be viewed as a double liability leading to the devaluation of the whole family. To avoid being “shamed” some families not only deny girls who are disabled access to school, but hide them away entirely.
Finally, economics often becomes intertwined with gender roles. In impoverished families, the limited resources available will be used to educate the boys, with the expectation that they will ultimately help support the family. Girls are not likely to be educated, particularly girlswho are disabled and need costly disability-related equipment or special transportation.
A Pervasive Problem Across Countries and Cultures
Barriers like those just described cut across countries and cultures, as can be observed from the following responses sent from around the world:
From Kenya: “The African society places more value on boys than girls. So when resources are scarce, boys are given a priority. A disabled boy will be sent to school at the advantage of the girl” (Naomy Ruth Esiaba, development consultant and activist, personal communications, 4/11/03 and 4/17/03). There are similar examples from Ghana (Nyarko, 2003) and Tanzania (Macha, 2002).
From Costa Rica: “There are more disabled women in Costa Rica than disabled men (51% compared to 49%), something you see in elementary school. But in secondary school and sheltered workshops there are more boys…In our culture, girls are supposed to stay at home while boys are supposed to go out and ‘earn a living.’ Girls are more ‘private,’ boys are more ‘public’” (Barbara Holst, Director, National Council on Rehabilitation and Special Education, personal communication, April 24, 2003). A similar report came from Mexico (Alicia Contreras, personal communication, 4/24/03)
From the PalestinianTerritory: “The health and beauty of girls and women are a representation of family well-being, and a symbol of the good standing of the family. Female family members are not supposed to produce wealth independently; they are seen primarily as mothers, supporting the lead of fathers, brothers and ultimately their husbands. It is expected that all daughters will marry; a successfully arranged marriage is an enhancement of the family’s name and prestige. Because of the norms of female beauty and the role of women in the family, a disabled woman is seen as a failure on several counts. While disabled sons can be tolerated and often married, disabled daughters are merely a drain on already stretched resources; permanent family members with no hope of future marriage or social mobility. It is quite usual for a disabled woman to be hidden by her family” (Atshan, 1997, p. 54). Activist and scholar Anita Ghai describes a similar situation in India (Hershey, 2000).
Middle and Upper Class Girls with Disabilities
Such testimonies to the contrary, girls with disabilities from middle and upper class families appear not only more likely to attend school than those from poor families, but also may have greater access to both educational and vocational opportunities than do their nondisabled counterparts. Assumed unfit to fulfill the traditional female roles of wife and mother, some girls with disabilities from relatively wealthy families appear to have greater freedom to explore other life options. For example, a woman from Yemen reports: “I know this sounds strange, but being a disabled woman has given me certain privileges that I would have never dreamt of had I been an able-bodied Yemeni woman.…I guess my parents are not afraid for my safety and honour. They probably think,‘She is disabled, who in the world would want anything to do with her.’” (Abu-Habib, pp. 16-17.)
Promising Strategies and Programs
In India, activists for women with disabilities, such as Dr. Anita Ghai, successfully advocated for more positive images of women with disabilities in the media (Hershey, 2002). Similar strategies are underway in Egypt and Lebanon (Nagata, 2003). A New York City-based mentoring project for adolescent girlswho are disabled (see below), providesparents with exposure to adult women with disabilities who have completed their education and are employed, thus helping to expand their educational and vocational aspirations for their daughters with disabilities (Rousso, 2001a).
Young role models can be helpful, too. A Save the Children, UK project in Nepal (as reported in Lansdown, in press) found that once some children who are disabledgo to school they became role models for other children and their families. Parents of girls who are disabled also may serve as role models for other parents. A group called Jan Madhyam, or “of the people,” helps communities educate children with disabilities.The fact that one of the founders of the program is the mother of a daughter who is disabledhas led parents to seek services for their ownchildren who are disabled(Kolucki, 2002).
Issues of Violence and Safety
While violence is a barrier to education for all girls, it may be more of an issue for girls with disabilities. Available data suggest that girls who are disabled experience violence within the family, institutions, and community at higher rates than do their nondisabled peers;and the violence they face may be more chronic and severe, including the withholding of essential care. Part of the explanation for this may be the disability itself, making it more difficult for some girls to assess violent situations or defend themselves.They also may not know how to flee or how or to whom to report incidents of violence. However, negative cultural attitudes may be a greater danger than ignorance. Often perceived as sick, helpless, asexual, and powerless, girls with disabilities are seen as easy targets. They also are regularly deprived of the skills and opportunities they need to recognize and address violence, including adequate sex education. Finally, the police and community members may fail to respond appropriately to incidents of violence against girls who are disabled, doubting the credibility of the reporter (Rousso, 2001b).